DSG- Is this normal or does the DSG need service/repair?

[VicGuy]

I bought a 2012 Golf Wagon TDI (aka JSW) a couple of months ago.
Low mileage (42 k km).
It's my first experience with DSG. All my VWs have been manual shift, but I've driven my wife's gas Golf with the TIP auto a lot.
The DSG is like having my car shifted by not very skillful manual transmission driver. Lurches when starting from standstill and the downshifts are very noticeable: "Hey, let use engine braking all the time!!".
On an uphill in stop and go traffic, it's difficult to 'inch forward'. I have to be ready to hit the brakes to prevent hitting the car in front.
Question: Is this 'normal' for the DSG?
Question: Are there symptoms that indicate DSG service should be done, even if the odometer doesn't say so?

Thanks!

 

[Matt927]

I have always found a DSG service improves shift quality. But yes, your symptoms do sound fairly normal, especially in traffic.

40k miles is the normal service interval, I am not sure if there is a time in service requirement as well.

I have owned three vehicles with the DSG and all were slightly different. My wife's DSG in her GTI is the best one yet in terms of smoothness/ease of use. It is also coupled to a different engine, so I can not say if that has any impact.

There are several companies that offer simple DSG tunes that really help the drivability of the transmission.

 

[JesseTDI]

Drive a 2012-2015 Ford focus with their DSG for any length of time and you will beg to deal with your VW's DSG minor annoyances. Like others have said have a service done on it and make sure they do the clutch adaptation that is supposed to be done at the same time and I'm willing to bet you will notice a measurable difference.

 

[FJ40Jim]

I have the same car, has the same herky-jerky driving feel. It's just how the shift points are programmed. It needs to have more than 2 shift maps (D & S), adding maps like towing, snow, eco, sporty, racetrack, etc...


With that being said, tell me more about adaptation? I've not touched any coding/reset/adaptation for the trans using VCDS. Is there a way to do any tweaks to the tranny through VCDS?

 

[Matt-98AHU]

Yeah, some of the later DSGs are pretty aggressive with their "creep" mode. Early DSGs are almost the exact opposite where there'd be more delay and on some hills you might actually rollbackwards a little before moving forward... So, kind of seems like engineers slightly overcompensated for that complaint.

And yeah, there's a lot of engine braking. Technically is more efficient when driven right.

The 2014 I've been driving lately is a little challenging to bring to a stop smoothly because of how aggressive the creep mode is. The earlier ones drive completely different.